I’ve spent a bit of time playing around with HTML5’s canvas element lately. It’s a fun new toy and has a lot of potential to be useful. But the biggest headache I’m finding so far is the lack of authoring tools. SVG has been around for ages, whereas Canvas is still relatively new. … Read the rest here
As a self confirmed conference junkie I speak at a dozen events each year, and attend many more. As such I’ve probably seen close to a thousand talks over the last five years. Because of this I’ve got a pretty good idea what makes for an exciting talk and how you can guarantee your session will suck. As somebody who also organises two conferences, UX London and dConstruct I’m really keen on getting new talent into the speaking circuit while still maintaining quality. As such I’ve put together a quick guide to help both new and experienced speakers kick arse/ass. Most of these tips aren’t new, but you’ll be surprised how few people actually follow them. … Read the rest here
I was always throwing stuff together as a kid, like homemade go-karts, bike ramps, forts, and other stuff that substantiated my existence as a boy. Now with boys of my own, it’s as if I’m remaking all that stuff again. Except it’s even more fun with kids. One of the projects we put together recently was a simple, cheap set of football/rugby uprights . In football (American), the uprights at either end of the playing field are similar to those used in rugby. … Read the rest here
Poppy is 1½ today. She’s my first dog, and it’s been a wonderful, if occasionally trying experience for both Her Indoors and me. The Wikipedia article on beagles gives some agreeable insight into the ups and downs of beagle ownership. This sums up Poppy perfectly: The Beagle has an even temper and gentle disposition. Described as “merry”, they are amiable and generally neither aggressive nor timid… Read the rest here
Jason Santa Maria Go to the source
by Jim Coudal A rumor borne of children talking, what befell All Hallows’ walking Whispers of “this boy I knew” who on a cold damp sidewalk laid. Which house on which dark moonlit street, gifted him his final “Treat?” A Taffy Apple sealed his fate, a “Trick” malevolently played, by deftly hidden razor blade. What evil felled him lurks anew. Perhaps hid deep in Charleston Chew? Does M & M stand for good? … Read the rest here
I’m working on a covert project that may or may not be related to my next letterpress poster . This time-lapse video shows me attempting to recreate one of the glyphs featured in Libro di M. Giovambattista Palatino , which, again, may or may not be used in a poster involving letterpress. I captured the process using iShowU (Mac), sped it up 3000%, and edited it using Final Cut Express. … Read the rest here
If you’ve got 4 minutes spare, treat yourself to this video of printmaker Paul Catherall explaining how he produced the beautiful linocut prints that were commissioned by Transport for London under the title “A new view of London”. An exhibition of his work is on display at the.gallery@oxo in London South bank’s until May 18, and the posters are available in the London Transport Museum Shop . Comment on this … Read the rest here
I love Fireworks. It’s been my tool of choice for a rather long time. In the previous year of working for Opera, I’ve used it more than any other app. Whether I’ve been working on interactive wireframes, UI mockups, icons or final production artwork, Fireworks is the one that I go to. When people ask why I don’t use Illustrator or Photoshop I sometimes find it hard to articulate precisely why. … Read the rest here
Jason Santa Maria Go to the source
My first time speaking professionally in public was back in 2005 at the first An Event Apart in Philadelphia. While not my first time speaking in front of a big audience, it was the first time I had to prepare a slide deck and use Keynote. Before and after view of a slide deck. On the left, you can see the bright red used to slides that need work, as well as black and grey for title slides, and blue for quotations. Two basic rules: simple and big When I use images, I almost always use them full screen and free of distraction. Keep your title slides to a few words, then speak through the rest of the story… Read the rest here
Alex Cornell and Scott Hansen of ISO50 have thrown together an impressive and definitive Field Guide to Color Management . Though there are literally thousands of guides on the web like this, ISO50’s is not only replete covering everything from lighting to print settings but also comes from a trusted resource plenty experienced with color management and printing . Consider this advice for workspace color management: An additional step you can take to ensure ideal lighting conditions in your workspace is to paint the walls with Munsell 8 Gray. This paint is specially formulated to have a flat spectral response with no color bias. Unlike other hues, this type of gray will not affect your perception of other colors in the spectrum. It creates a “pure” and neutral viewing environment. … Read the rest here
Alex Cornell and Scott Hansen of ISO50 have thrown together an impressive and definitive Field Guide to Color Management . Though there are literally thousands of guides on the web like this, ISO50’s is not only replete covering everything from lighting to print settings but also comes from a trusted resource plenty experienced with color management and printing . Consider this advice for workspace color management: An additional step you can take to ensure ideal lighting conditions in your workspace is to paint the walls with Munsell 8 Gray. This paint is specially formulated to have a flat spectral response with no color bias. … Read the rest here
Jason Santa Maria Go to the source
As SXSW 2006 came to a close, I was having lunch with friends at the Moonshine Grill and ranting about typography, as I am wont to do. I was complaining about how there are so many wonderful typefaces, but no decent way to find them. Sites like Flickr had already revolutionized the way we shared and discovered photography; why isn’t anyone taking advantage of the web for the sake of type? “I should do that,” I murmured. My friends offered up a shared response: “Well, do it.” Today, I’m very pleased to announce the launch of a new site I put together with the generous help of friends called Typedia . At its simplest, Typedia is a shared encyclopedia of typefaces. … Read the rest here
Once again, after reading somebody else’s article , I felt inspired to put together an alternative example. In this case: Text Rotation. Within the article I linked to, the example uses an image sprite and a sprinkle of CSS to get things positioned right. Well, maybe not so much a sprinkle. … Read the rest here
Once again, after reading somebody else’s article , I felt inspired to put together an alternative example. In this case: Text Rotation. Within the article I linked to, the example uses an image sprite and a sprinkle of CSS to get things positioned right. Well, maybe not so much a sprinkle. It’s like the top fell off the pepper shaker and you’ve suddenly got a large pile of pepper on your food. It makes me want to sneeze… Read the rest here
Jason Santa Maria Go to the source
The rule of thirds and ratios such as the golden section are fantastic methods for achieving designs that feel cohesive. The problem is these principles don’t really apply to web design. Golden Ratio: When the ratio between two numbers is the same as the ratio of the sum of those numbers and the larger number. Basically, a+b is to a as a is to b . Also referred to as the “divine proportion” from its frequent occurrence in nature. … Read the rest here
Back in January I was part of a double bill with Jon Tan , entitled Skillswap goes typographic . It went down really well so I thought I’d better tie it all together here. My talk was on “Facing up to Fonts” the blurb for which went as follows: Browser support for the typographical aspects of CSS is gradually increasing. Things are on the up. Richard will be trouncing the myth of web-safe fonts, demonstrating how to go beyond bold, detailing the technicalities of font embedding and exploring the commercial and ethical minefield therein. The introduction of font embedding in particular is a long-awaited step in the right direction… Read the rest here
Over five years ago, I put together a really simple tool that let you specify a foreground colour and a background colour. The tool would spit out whether it met the W3C guidelines for acceptable levels of contrast as part of AERT . A year later, I added convenient sliders for adjusting the red, green and blue (RGB) values. I decided to take a moment to update the tool with a couple new features. WCAG 2.0 The first of these is having the tool be able to calculate the contrast ratio as defined within WCAG 2.0 . The guidelines appear to be less strict than what was defined previously… Read the rest here
Over five years ago, I put together a really simple tool that let you specify a foreground colour and a background colour. The tool would spit out whether it met the W3C guidelines for acceptable levels of contrast as part of AERT . A year later, I added convenient sliders for adjusting the red, green and blue (RGB) values. I decided to take a moment to update the tool with a couple new features. WCAG 2.0 The first of these is having the tool be able to calculate the contrast ratio as defined within WCAG 2.0 … Read the rest here
Design Melt Down Go to the source
The personal site can closely resemble a portfolio site, and often the line between them is rather fuzzy. All the same this collection of samples represents sites that serve to show more of a full view of a person as oppose to simply a huge display of work. Obviously this approach has benefits on a personal level (mom and dad can see photos of the baby, etc), but it also has some other potential benefits…. Read the rest here
In building this iteration of the blog, I decided to follow that trendiest of trends and embed my latest Twitter status on my sidebar. Despite having been on Twitter for awhile and having my site linked from my Twitter account, I didn’t really have anything pushing people from my site back to Twitter. Problem solved: add status to sidebar. But what’s the best way to keep it up to date? … Read the rest here
